*The Osun State Government says its Health Insurance Scheme initiative is aimed at ensuring the youths, who constitute a greater proportion of the population of the state, receive accessible, affordable, beneficial and quality healthcare delivery

Isola Moses | ConsumerConnect

In order to ensure that the younger population also get quality healthcare delivery accessible, affordable and beneficial in the State of the Living Spring, the Osun State Government has directed the immediate enrolment of 30,000 youths for its Health Insurance Scheme (OHIS).

ConsumerConnect reports Yemi Lawal, Honourable Commissioner for Youth and Sports, in the state disclosed this development at a press conference Friday, May 6, 2022, in Osogbo, the Osun State capital.

The Commissioner said the initiative was aimed at ensuring that the youths who constitute a greater proportion of the population of the state receive quality healthcare delivery accessible, affordable and beneficial.

Lawal also noted that the initiative was designed to properly integrate the youths into the scheme, especially those out of school, unemployed, physically challenged or mentally challenged.

According to him, the beneficiaries of the health scheme would be drawn from the 30 Local Government Areas (LGAs), including Ife-East Area Office of the state in line with the state’s Youth Policy Programme and Implementation Strategies.

The Commssioner further said: “The present administration’s efforts in making sure that healthcare delivery is accessible and affordable to all citizens and residents of the state led to the establishment of the Osun Health Insurance Scheme (OHIS).

“Nevertheless, the youths, who constitute a greater proportion of the population of the state, some of whom are out of school, unemployed, physically challenged or mentally challenged, are yet to be fully integrated into the scheme.”

He as well stated that in order to address this challenge, Governor Adegboyega Oyetola of Osun State, has directed that 30,000 vulnerable youth drawn from all the local government areas of the state be enrolled under the Osun Health Insurance Scheme (OHIS).

Recruitment into O’YES empowerment programme

The state government had kick-started massive recruitment of youths for the Osun Youth Employment Scheme, popularly called (O’YES).

The recruitment is  part of  government’s efforts at maximising the potential embedded in the youths, for them to contribute their quota to the growth and development of the state.

Lawal, who noted that the recruitment represented the 5th batch, said that more than 62,000 cadets had gone through the scheme so far, said the Honourable Commissioner.

Lawal stated that the scheme is a revolving 2-year volunteers’ scheme, which strives to empower recruited youths across the 30 LGAs Area Office in the state.

He said the volunteers were divided into different specialised cadres such as Public Sanitation, Public Works Brigade, Green Gang, Osun Sheriff Corps, Traffic Marshalls, Osun Paramedics, among others.

“Let me make it clear that O’YES itself is not about offering employment to the youth but empowering the participating youth to become self-reliant and possibly become employers of labour.

“This is where the exit programme comes in.”

According to Lawal, “the Exit Programme empowers the Cadets by helping them become self-reliant through acquisition of relevant entrepreneurial and vocational skills.

“As at present, the scheme has about 74 exit programmes for the cadets to choose from.”

The Commissioner added: “We can boldly say that the Scheme has achieved success in transforming the lives of the ex-cadets through the exit programmes, to the extent that you can now find many of the ex-cadets doing fine in different areas of endeavours.”